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00.30 The Telegraph's live coverage of the Ukraine crisis will resume in the morning.

00.10 A Pentagon research team is studying the body language of Russian President Vladimir Putin (and other foreign leaders) to better predict their behaviour, AFP reports. The project, previously conducted under the State Department, is now backed by the Defence Department's Office of Net Assessment. Putin's psychological profile was last updated in 2012, a Pentagon official said. Advocates of such studies argue that it could help US officials anticipate the Russian leader's actions after he ordered troops into Ukraine. Pentagon analysts have studied about 15 foreign leaders including Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, North Korea's Kim Jong-Un and late Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

22.50 Oliphant says it is all over. The Ukrainian deputy commander of the base briefed journalists to say some 30-60 Russians who had stormed the base earlier had left in their trucks after reaching an agreement with Ukrainian officers. He said the Russian gunmen were told they had permission to open fire. More shockingly, he heard the civilian "self-defence" groups has been sent there to deliberately to target journalists.

20.22 Our reporter Roland Oliphant has just gone down to the base (somewhere between Sevastopol and Balaclava). He says the atmosphere is menacing. He says it is dark and foggy but he can see Ural army truck blocking the entrance. He can also see a number of the so-called slf-defence groups wearing the St George Ribbon, which signifiy Russian military prowess.

20.14 This just in: armed men thought to be Russians drove a truck into a Ukrainian missile defence post in the Crimea region on Friday and took control without a shot being fired, a Reuters reporter on the scene said.

18.05 Potential candidates for the Ukrainian presidency are urging the west to stick to one stance against Russia.

Ukrainian magnate Petro Poroshenko told reporters in Paris on Friday that Ukraine wants the EU and U.S. "to speak in one voice and be on the same wavelength."

Former boxer Vitali Klitschko, a leader of the protest movement that sent Ukraine's president fleeing last month, said "we need a joint position by all EU countries and the United States."

18.04 A Ukrainian Catholic woman prays during a religious procession near the Dinamo stadium close to Independence square in central Kiev:

DIMITAR DILKOFF/ Getty

17.56 The latest from Reuters: Putin's spokesman has ridiculed calls for talks between Russia and Ukraine with Western mediation, saying Western countries' actions during the crisis in Ukraine had cost them their credibility, Russian news agencies have reported.

Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, also said Russia feared there would be ethnic persecution in Crimea and eastern Ukraine if "those who stood behind the coup in Kiev" reached those regions, the reports said.

17.50 Canada will impose a travel ban on the people it blames for the Ukraine crisis, Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said, without giving specific names.

The Canadian government has already suspended military cooperation with Russia and said it will not recognize any referendum held in the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea as long as Russia's "illegal" occupation continues.

Harper said that the ban would affect "a number of individuals responsible for threatening the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine. This ban will prevent these individuals from traveling to Canada."

17.43 A few more comments from Gazprom's chief executive quoted in Russian newspapers:

"Ukraine has de-facto stopped paying for gas... We cannot deliver gas for free. Either Ukraine pays the debt and pays for current supplies or the risk appears of a return to the situation at the start of 2009."

17.40 Another snap from Reuters, Putin's spokesman says calls for Russia to start talks with Ukraine under Western mediation "make us smile".

17.35 The IMF has told the Ukraine that economic assistance is on the way: "I am positively impressed with the authorities' determination, sense of responsibility and commitment to an agenda of economic reform and transparency", Reza Moghadam, the IMF's European Department director, said after a two-day visit. "The IMF stands ready to help the people of Ukraine."

17.30 Gazprom has increased the pressure on Ukraine's new government, which now owes $1.89 billion for Russian natural gas. Gazprom chief executive Alexei Miller said if Ukraine doesn't pay off its debt, "there is a risk of returning to the situation of the beginning of 2009" when Russia cut off supplies to Europe because of a pricing dispute with Ukraine.

17.27 Here is a bit more from Valentina Matvienko, the speaker of Russia's upper house of parliament who said the country would welcome Crimea if it votes in the referendum to join its giant neighbor:

"If the decision is made, then (Crimea) will become an absolutely equal subject of the Russian Federation."

17.25 People hold Russian flags during a rally-concert in support of the people of Crimea, in Moscow:

YURI KOCHETKOV/ EPA

17.21 Reuters is reporting that Putin's spokesman says that despite deep differences with the West over Ukraine, he hopes that common ground will be found and there will be no cold war.

17.18 A rally-concert in support of the people of Crimea in Moscow:

YURI KOCHETKOV/ EPA

17.14 US spy agencies warned the White House of imminent action by Russia in Ukraine and were not caught off guard by the crisis, a top official said Friday, rejecting criticism from lawmakers AFP reports.

Facing accusations the spy services were taken by surprise, the head of the Defense Intelligence Agency, Lieutenant General Michael Flynn, said in an interview the intelligence community predicted the likely intervention of Russian troops up to a week in advance.

17.12 A woman passes by a graffiti that reads "The Russians are coming - Resistance" in Simferopol:

Vadim Ghirda/ AP

16.29 France says no referendum on the future of Crimea unless Ukraine decides to organise one. Francois Hollande said after a meeting with Ukraine's Vitali Klitschko, the former boxer who was a leading figure in the protest movement that ousted a pro-Moscow government in Ukraine:

The territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine are non-negotiable.

14.10 Over 65,000 people waving Russian flags and banners are attending a rally next to St Basil's Cathedral in central Moscow, in a demonstration expressing solidarity with the pro-Russian authorities in the Ukrainian region of Crimea who want to join Russia, police said.

The rally, called "We are together", began with Russian pop star Oleg Gazmanov singing a patriotic song called "Officers" and took place just outside the Kremlin walls.

14.00 Military observers from the OSCE trying to enter Crimea were stopped at a checkpoint blocking a road into the peninsula, an AFP reporter said.

A convoy of vehicles - led by a police car, followed by two buses carrying the observers and a large number of cars waving Ukrainian flags and honking their horns - were stopped at the checkpoint manned by unidentified armed men, as they tried for a second day to enter Crimea.

13.56 The Winter Paralympics must not be affected by Ukraine crisis, Russian news agency Interfax reports. It is the opening ceremony tonight.

Elephants at the Kharkhiv zoo

Bears at the Kharkhiv zoo

13.00 A zoo in Ukraine has made a plea for funds to feed its animals, saying they had no part in the political upheaval in the country and would start dying without aid.

"Our animals are not fighting for power, they do not share anyone's political views, they just want to live," the zoo in Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine said on its website.

The former Soviet state is on the brink of bankruptcy.

"Along with the whole country, our zoo is living through difficult and terrifying times," said the zoo, which was set up in what is Ukraine's second-largest city in the 1890s and has survived both world wars.

"Without emergency measures, our completely innocent animals will start dying next week," it said, pleading with local residents to visit the zoo or donate funds.

Interior Ministry members rest on the floor after recent clashes between pro-Russian supporters and riot police at the regional administration headquarters in Donetsk. PHOTO: REUTERS

12.53 Russia has accused the European Union of taking an "extremely unconstructive position" by freezing talks on easing visa barriers that complicate travel between Russia and the EU. The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement:

Russia will not accept the language of sanctions and threats.

12.47 Peter Foster reports from Washington:

Interesting to note that Russian officials were present at the Iran nuclear negotiations. Shows that for all the diplomatic fireworks some things carry on as normal. Also points to a truth that hopefully puts a floor under this crisis - that an isolated Russia suits no one. Not Vladimir Putin, not Barack Obama or the EU. Which is why barring an unforeseen flare-up on the ground, everyone is actually trying to "build ladders for Putin to climb down" as one diplomat put it.

The Ukrainian Paralympic Committee has confirmed that their team will compete at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games.

The decision was announced by Ukrainian Paralympic Committee President Valeriy Suskevich at a press conference just hours ahead of the Opening Ceremony at the Fisht Stadium.

Sir Philip Craven, President of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC), said: "We are delighted by Ukraine's decision as we want sport to prevail and a full complement of teams to compete in what we are confident will be a fantastic Paralympic Winter Games.

"All week the IPC has been working closely with the Ukrainian Paralympic Committee in an effort to keep them here in Sochi.

"The talking point of Sochi 2014 needs to be great sport and great athletes, not global politics."

Ukraine's UNN news agency is reporting that Dmitry Yarosh, the head of the far-right paramilitary group Pravy Sektor, intends to run for president.

"Pravy Sektor is revolutionary and remains at the avangarde of the revolution, although fighting with revolutionary methods no longer makes sense," the agency quoted Mr Yarosh's deputy Anderei Tarasenko as saying, explaining the decision.

Pravy Sektor - Right Sector in English - emerged in the early stages of the pro-European protest movement as an alliance of far right groups who believed Viktor Yanukovych would only be evicted by force. They played a prominent role in street fighting in January and February, and Mr Yarosh won a lot of respect even amongst ordinary protesters for what his followers' did on the barricades.

But the group's far-right ideology and subscription to the doctrine of Stepan Bandera, a mid-20th century Ukrainian nationalist insurgent leader considered a Nazi collaborator by many ethnic Russians, makes him a toxic candidate in the east of the country.

He has become a hate-figure in Crimea, where many ethnic Russians have denounced the revolution in Kiev as a fascist coup, and self defence groups have set themselves up to fight what they say are Yarosh's plans to send his men south to cleanse Crimea of Russians.

So far there has been no sign whatsoever of Pravy Sektor or other ultra-nationalists coming anywhere near Crimea.

10.29 Ukraine has decided not to boycott the Winter Paralympic Games, that begin tonight in Sochi.

Ukraine's Paralympic chief, Valeriy Sushkevich, said that he asked Vladimir Putin to ensure there would be peace during the Games and that his team would not pull out over events at home:

I repeated my one request, the one and most important request, that before and during (the Games) there will be peace.

10.09 The Kremlin claims there is "no understanding" of Vladimir Putin's position on Ukraine. The Russian president's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said:

Regardless of all the efforts of our president, his readiness to explain Russia's position practically on a daily basis, we still hit a wall of no understanding.

It is rather sad and what is worse is that it is very bad from the point of view of possible repercussions.

Armed men, believed to be Russian soldiers, march outside the Perevalnoye military unit. PHOTO: EPA

09.43 Russia's lower and upper houses of parliament have pledged to vote into law the result of a "historic" March 16 referendum in Crimea on whether to become Russia. The EU and US state the decision is "illegal".

The heads of Russia's two houses of parliament indicated President Vladimir Putin's resolve by announcing that Moscow intended to respect Crimean MPs' decision to renounce ties with Ukraine and stage a March 16 referendum on switching over to Kremlin rule.

We will respect the historic choice of the people of Crimea. We support the free and democratic choice of the population of Crimea.

09.33 The Ukraine crisis has highlighted China's muddled foreign policy, according to an interesting AFP analysis:

"Welcome to the real world," said Kenneth Lieberthal, a China expert and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington.

"China by now has global interests but is not a global strategist or global player...(it) is not the one that initiates and tries to drive the outcome," he said.

Although China aspires to greater global standing, it pursues narrow goals overseas as long as its core concerns are not involved, letting its ally and fellow UN Security Council member Russia take the lead on crises such as the conflict in Syria while it zeroes in on business deals in Africa and elsewhere.

09.02 Crimea has reportedly terminated the broadcasting of Ukraine national televsion.

09.01 The Telegraph's Roland Oliphant reports from parliament building in Simferopol where Cossacks stand guard outside as politicians decide to hold a referendum on whether Crimea should become part of Russia: